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Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Bandcamp Picks: Sights of War, Ego Depths, Melmak, Umor

From Voivod down, bands from the French part of Canada do things their own way. Sights of War are one such band; their debut Annihilate To Survive is a perfect blending of Amebix/Discharge style crust and Darkthrone/Aura Noir school of blackened thrash, plus a few off-kilter flourishes that show these guys aren't afraid of a little individuality. The album is available as a "name your price" download.

One man band Ego Depths describe their sound as "Fear.Emptiness.Despair" - how could I resist? Oligoria Blodd is hellish doom/drone that doesn't skimp on the screaming. Depending on your appreciation of drone, this is either a brilliant work of depression and madness... or 75 pointless minutes of feedback and reverb. Personally, I'm thinking the void left by Black Boned Angel may have been filled. The album is available as a "name your price" download.

Though Kyuss' place in the doom metal hierarchy is questionable, their influence on the genre isn't. Case in point: The Only Vision Of All Gods
by Sopelana's Melmak. The band may pay lip service to the sludge metal bands a la mode, but their riffing is pure Josh Homme. The album is available as a "name your price" download.

Umor from Croatia are atypical for a doom/sludge band; the vocals are more reminiscent of Joy Division's Ian Curtis or Bauhaus' Peter Murphy than the usual gruff Neurosis/Isis fare. And the music on Held Us Silent For A Moment does a good job of being gloomy and melodic without ever turning into girlfriend metal. If you're a doom fiend, this is well worth a listen. [Free]